1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to textile machinery in general, and more particularly to knitting machines and devices for designing knit images for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are already known various constructions of devices for designing knit images for reproduction in knit products to be produced on knitting machines, among them those disclosed, for instance, in the published European patent document EP 0 640 707 A1, German patent document DE 44 31 898 A1 and the international patent document WO 94/11794. A device of this kind typically includes at least one storage device for storing data required for the production of the knit products on the knitting machine, at least one display device for displaying design images for the knit products, and at least one input device for altering the design images. By using such devices, it is possible to fully exploit the knitting capabilities of fully automated knitting machines. By using such devices, it is possible to manufacture knit products with complicated structures, highly complex color schemes or patterns, as well as complex contours or textures.
In the presently known designing devices of this kind, the input of the parameters of the knit product to be manufactured occurs in various input groups that can or must be edited separately. These input groups basically include shape instructions, color instructions, structure instructions, Jacquard instructions as well as loop size instructions. In addition to this, there must be entered yarn properties as well as machine parameters. From these instructions or input data, there are formed, by resorting to data processing techniques, control data on the basis of which a respective knitting machine is able to manufacture the desired knit product. The knit product is visualized on the display device of the designing apparatus, as a rule, in the form of a thread course presentation that depicts the knitting processxe2x80x94row by rowxe2x80x94by respective symbols. In most known arrangements, the knit product is also entered into the system in this form and this information is subsequently converted by a conversion program into the control data for the knitting machine. In addition to that, the designing devices known from the above references are also equipped with other converting programs that are capable of converting or translating the thread course representation into a loop image representation that is capable of being then displayed. However, a direct conversion of a loop image representation into a thread course representation is not possible in these conventional devices.
As a result of the fact that the aforementioned designing devices require, for the generation of the design data for the knit product, the input of knit product instructions and of machine parameters and primarily display the thread course presentation of the knit product, they are predominantly aimed at a technically oriented user. For a style designer, who creates his or her designs in actual loop images, these designing devices are not suitable designing tools in that the loop image presentations can be generated in the known devices only in an operation following and resulting from the creation of the thread course presentation, so that the generation of the latter must be learned and mastered in order to be able to effectively employ the knit product designing device.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a knit product designing device that does not possess the drawbacks of the known devices of this type.
Still another object of the present invention is to devise a designing device of the type here under consideration which is suited for use not only by technically oriented, but also by more artistically leaning, users.
It is yet another object of the present invention to design the above designing device in such a manner as to allow its proficient use even by persons who are not familiar with thread course presentation symbols and generation techniques.
A concomitant object of the present invention is so to construct the device of the above type as to be relatively simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, and yet reliable in operation.
In keeping with the above objects and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the present invention resides in a device for designing knit products to be manufactured on a knitting machine. This designing device includes at least one storage device for storing data required for the production of the knit products on the knitting machine, at least one display device for displaying design images for the knit products, and at least one input device for altering the design images. In accordance with the present invention, the designing device further includes means for processing data to be exchanged between the storage, input and display devices, including means for generating at least one knit image presentation and at least one corresponding thread course presentation for display as the design images on the display device, and means for simultaneously correspondingly altering one of the presentations as the other is being altered by using the input device.
A particular advantage of the designing device as described so far is that it is now possible by using the above designing device to utilize either one of the thread course and knit image presentations for the entry and/or alteration of data relating to the elements of the knit product, while the respectively other of such presentations or at least the data describing the same is changed accordingly in a simultaneous or concurrent fashion. Consequently, the designing device of the present invention is suited for use both by style designers and technically oriented users. In this respect, it is particularly advantageous for the processing means to further include means for sending the knit image presentation and the thread course presentation to the display device for simultaneous display thereon. Of course, if so desired, other presentations, such as those that more closely depict the machine operations, can be displayed on the display device as well.
Additional advantages are obtained when the processing means further includes means for sending at least one of the knit image presentation and the thread course presentation of a plurality of sections of the respective knit product to the display device for simultaneous display thereon. Such a simultaneous display may be achieved by resorting to the well-known window display technique. All of such windows are or equal rank during the editing, and they display images that are based on the same instructions or information. The effect of any modification in the thread course presentation on the knit product can be immediately observed in the reality-close knit or loop image presentation or rendition. This facilitates the spotting or recognition of errors or undesired effects. It is also possible in accordance with the present invention for the processing means to further include means for sending at least one of the knit image presentation and the thread course presentation of respective front and rear surfaces of the respective knit product to the display device for simultaneous display thereon.
It is especially advantageous when, in accordance with a further facet of the present invention, the generating means includes means for generating the knit image presentation as a reality-resembling, three-dimensional image of all elements of such a presentation including at least one of at least the loop size, tuck and float, wherein the individual elements, by performing predetermined offsetting and wrap-around around operations, may be tied in into the overall structure of the eventual knit product in directions different from the prevailing direction of the stitches of such a product. This is especially convenient to achieve when the input device includes means for entering and altering, for each needle position of the knit product, the kind, the shape and the size of the loop to be displayed in the knit image presentation. To this, there may be added data describing the kind of yarn(s) to be used in the manufacture of the knit product. In addition, the processing means may further include means for calculating, for forwarding to the generating means, information concerning the shape of the respective loop in dependence on the kind, size and shape of respective adjacent loops and in dependence on the properties of the knitting yarns to be used in the manufacture of the knit product.
Structural designs such as braid, aran etc. have sections in which loops from the typically vertically extending loop columns are wrapped around laterally around the loops of other loop columns. As a result of this deviation from the regular course, forces come into being in the knit product which influence the orientations of the loops. In a currently preferred embodiment of the designing apparatus of the present invention, there are offered to the user several kinds of presentations. For one, the basic structure of the design for the knit product may be kept unaltered in the knit image presentation and just the loops that are wrapped around loops others than those around which they would have been wrapped in their basic positions, being offset either laterally or in the height, are depicted extended to the extent corresponding to the difference between their basic positions and their new wrapped-around positions. However, the knit image presentation may also be, in accordance with the present invention, constructed in a manner that is closer to reality by taking into account the forces that act in the knit product as a result of such loop deviations in that even the loops that are situated in the vicinity of such deviated loops are shortened or lengthened to some extent in response to such forces. Moreover, the user is given the opportunity to change the positions of individual elements, such as loops, tuck or float correspondingly to his or her visual perception for the overall loop or knit image.
For the manufacture of knit products with loops of different magnitudes and yarn thicknesses, these loops can be rendered even in the knit product design in close correspondence to reality both as to the yarn thicknesses and the loop sizes.
Advantageously, the generating means for the thread course presentation includes means for generating respective symbols for all elements of the knit product to be manufactured including at least one of at least the loop size, tuck and float as well as for the needles of the knitting machine and their activities including knitting, not knitting, transferring, taking over, shedding and the like, and the symbol-generating means may preferably further include means for generating symbols for the parameters of the knitting machine including at least one of at least thread-guide movements, carriage movements, product withdrawal, needle bed offset and the like.
A significant design simplification can be achieved when, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention,
the processing means further includes means for combining groups of symbols of a thread course presentation into modules, and means for combining groups of loops of a knit image presentation into modules, and when the storing means includes means for storing the modules. Such modules may then be used either at a different location of the knit product, or in a different knit product altogether as a unit. Furthermore, it is proposed that the processing means further include means for inserting at least one of the modules into at least one of the presentations of a basic knit product, including means for tying in the loops of the module into the loop structure of the basic knit product in a manner that is technologically correct. The connection or tying in of the loops of the module in the knit image presentation with those of the basic knit product then corresponds to the actual conditions encountered in the knit product.
The designing device of the present invention may further include means in its processing means for graphically superimposing a plurality of rows of the respective thread course presentation into a single loop row and/or for contracting a plurality of rows of the respective knit image presentation into a single loop row on the display device. By resorting to this expedient, several rows of the knit image presentation can be contracted in such a manner that they occupy, in their vertical dimension, the same amount of space as merely a single row or course of the knit product. As a result, appliquxc3xa9s that would create spatial formations in the knit product can be presented in the knit image presentation appearing on the display device in a manner that is very close to reality. These means offer special advantages in the creation of Jacquard patterns. So, for instance, during the design of a three-color Jacquard knit, the representations of the yarns of the three colors can be contracted into a single row on the display device. Herein, the loops of the Jacquard back side are so arranged behind the Jacquard front side as it would eventually correspond to the actual appearance of the Jacquard knit product. Even in other two-surface knit products, the loops of the underlying surfaces are partially visible when looping on the first or top surface.
If the knit product is to include a skew region, then the latter can be presented on the display device horizontally, in a row-by-row manner corresponding to the knitting progress that is to take place on the knitting machine. In this presentation, the loops that are not being knit in the skew region are extended in their lengths to such an extent as corresponds to the knitting progress prior to the recommencement of their involvement in the knitting process. However, even here, the presentation can be, in accordance with the present invention, so xe2x80x9cpushed togetherxe2x80x9d that there results a reality-close presentation in which the loop rows of the skew region extend at an angle to the loop rows or courses of the basic knit structure.
Even Jacquard patterns can be presented in a so-to-speak distended condition in which all of the color knit rows needed for forming a single view row in the final knit product are presented above one another in the vertical direction. To achieve this, the processing means further includes means for graphically separating a single superimposed loop row of the respective thread course presentation into a plurality of constituent rows for display on the displaying device and/or means for graphically separating a single contracted loop row of the respective knit image presentation into a plurality of constituent rows for display on the displaying device.
Considerable additional advantages are obtained when the processing means further includes means for generating multiplicates of the modules for display on the display device and/or means for generating mirror images of the modules for display on the display device. The number of needles per knitting module both in height and in width is arbitrary. The same is also valid about the outer shape of the module.
Any knit module can be formed in two different ways: either as a section of a knit structure in knit image presentation or thread course presentation, or as a separate knit structure that is created in the knit image presentation or in the thread course presentation. Both of these presentations are automatically available for these knit modules. So, a knit module generated in the thread course presentation can be inserted at any time into the knit image presentation of the basic knit structure and can then be seen there in its knit image presentation as well. It is also possible for the knit modules to form the edges of a knit product. The modules may be introduced into the design for the knit product in such a manner as to horizontally or vertically adjoin each other, be offset with respect to one another, or be paced at predetermined distances from each other. There can even be specified the size of the are that is to be filled by a certain module. If the area to be filled does not correspond in one direction or the other to a multiple of the size of such a module, the remaining parts of this area are then filled with fractional parts of this module.
With respect to each of such knit modules, there may be stored in the storage device additional attributes which indicate the conditions of use for such a module. These attributes may include, for instance, the capability of mirroring the module from left to right or from above to below, or the unity of the module, that is the instruction that the module may only be used in the knit product in its entirety. With the aid of these attributes, it can also be prescribed that the module must be knit by itself as the knit product is being knit. Even the machine resolution in which the module must be generated, or the maximum permissible offset of the module can be given as attributes.
The following criteria may be taken into consideration during the insertion of a module into the basic knit structure of a knit product:
When loops are being formed in the same row of the basic knit product and the module, then the loops of the module replace the corresponding loops of the basic knit product. When, on the other hand, loops are being formed in the basic knit product but loops are carried over or skipped in the module, then a carry-over row is inserted into the basic knit structure. When loops are being carried over in the basic knit product but loops are being formed in the knit module, then the loops of the module replace in their region the loops of the next-following row of the basic knit product. In the event that loops are being carried over in the same row both in the basic knit product and in the module, then the offsetting and transferring movements are being conducted in a predetermined rank order. When loops are thrown off in a module knit row, then a throw-away row is introduced into the basic knit product, provided that a throw-away row does not already exist in the basic knit structure. Elevation references can be indicated both in the basic knit structure and in the module at which the knitting operation must not be altered by the module integration routines.
It is especially advantageous when the processing means further includes means for inserting at least one module of any type into at least one of the presentations of a basic textile product of any type. In this context, the user may give instructions about how the automatic control of the operation is to react at the region of the module to the different knitting process control cards. Such instructions may be defined individually for each needle that lies immediately within or without the module contour. So, it can be preordained in the course of which knitting operation typexe2x80x94loop, tuck, no-loopxe2x80x94of the respective needle at the border region the modification of the knit structure is to take place. Besides, it can be specified how the basic knit structure of the border region is to be modified in dependence on the operation type of the needle at that region. To this end, it is proposed for the processing means to further include means for defining border modules between at least one of the presentations of the module and at least the corresponding one of the presentations of the basic knit product. Such a border or transition module may be situated directly at the boundary between the module and the basic knit structure; however, it may even be placed, when necessitated by knitting operation consideration, at a distance from this boundary.
The designing device may further include a Jacquard generator for the design of the connecting structure of the Jacquard front side with the Jacquard rear side of the knit product in at least one of the knit image and thread course presentations. The colors of the visible side can be predetermined either in the knit image or thread course presentation, or as a loop-rastered color image. All Jacquard connecting structures between the visible side and the back side, which embody the state of the art in the knitting technology, may already be contained in the storage device of the designing apparatus and be presented to the user in a menu form for utilization. Once the user has selected a connecting structure from the respective menu, the Jacquard generator automatically generates the desired connecting structure, depending on the visible Jacquard side. However, the user may also use the Jacquard generator to define his or her own connecting structure, and to store the same for future reference.
After the knitting instructions have been entered to alter either the knit image presentation or the thread course presentation, the processing means calculates from such data the control data for controlling the operation of the knitting machine. However, the translation of the knitting instructions into such control data is sometimes not unique. So, for instance, there may be several possibilities of implementation. Therefore, the designing device may, in accordance with another feature of the present invention, include interactive means for influencing the translation of the design images of the through the input device knit product into control data for the knitting machine. In this manner, it is possible to manually choose one of several translation possibilities of the design images into control data for controlling the operation of the knitting machine. Moreover, the storage device may advantageously include storage areas for storing frequently used translation algorithms between the design images and control data for the knitting machine as entered by the interactive means. This has the advantage that, when a designer of a new product encounters a certain translation problem, he or she may resort to the use of an already available algorithm, so that the latter need not be entered again. This interactive means may also be so set up that the user can determine for all detected translation problems if his or her interactively made selections and/or changes are to be automatically used throughout the particular knit product, or generally for all knit products to be manufactured.
The present invention is also directed to a method of designing knit products to be manufactured on a knitting machine, which method comprises the steps of generating at least one knit image presentation and at least one corresponding thread course presentation of the respective knit product, displaying such presentations, and simultaneously correspondingly altering one of the presentations when and as the other is being altered. There are advantageously also provided the further steps of converting the respective one of the knit image presentation and the thread course presentation into design data for the knit product, and storing such design data for shared use in both of the presentations. This means that a common set of data is generated and stored for both of such presentations of the product to be manufactured, which facilitates the simultaneous transfer of the alterations in one of the presentations into the other.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.